Tag Archives: painting instruction

Self-Portrait with Still Life

Posted on May 6, 2016 | Comments Off

Self-Portrait with Still Life, 24 x 30, oil on canvas, Kit Miracle

Most artists create a self-portrait every few years so I painted this one last month. I had recently purchased this old mirror and thought it would be interesting to set it up as a still life. My portrait isn’t really the first thing the viewer notices (I hope). The challenges with this painting is that there are two light sources: one on the still life in the foreground and one me as I paint. An additional challenge was to prevent other light sources so I had to black out the windows. This meant I was literally painting in the dark. Check out the step-by-step view of the painting process at this link. Self-portrait with Still Life – step by step

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Posted in art, oil painting, painting instruction, still life, Uncategorized

Tagged art, contemporary impressionist, kit miracle, painting instruction, still life

Gardening with Scottie

Posted on February 10, 2016 | Comments Off

Gardening with Scottie, 20 x 20, oil on canvas, Kit Miracle

I recently completed this winter still life painting. That is, when it’s cold outside, I usually paint inside. The theme for this painting is planning my spring garden. There were many challenges, especially all the circles and ellipticals as well as that dang ceramic dog. I’m not sure I’m done with this yet as I keep tweaking it every time I walk past it in my studio. Check out the demo for Gardening with Scottie.

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Posted in art, garden, oil painting, painting instruction, still life

Tagged art, books, country living, gardening, kit miracle, oil painting, painting, painting instruction, still life

Plein Air Painting In the Neighborhood

Posted on June 15, 2015 | 1 comment

Mentor Road, Birdseye, Indiana, oil on canvas, 18 x 24, Kit Miracle

Writers are often advised to paint what you know. I believe that this advice holds true for artists, too. You know your own neighborhood best, the most attractive features, the back roads, and the best seasons to view the scenery.

My neighborhood, as the title of my blog implies, is a rural one. This time of year the farmers are baling hay. Those big round bales often remind me of the wonderful haystacks of Monet, and their rotund forms litter the fields until they’re tidied away in neat rows.

A couple of days ago, I rode around the neighborhood looking for likely painting spots, especially with an eye to catching some hay bales still lying in the field. Other criteria for me are where can I park and will I need permission to go onto someone’s property. Most people are very gracious about allowing artists to venture on their land but it’s always best to ask if you can.

Today I returned to a likely spot. Actually, I had intended to climb into the field but found that I liked the view from the road better, especially with the roof of a house showing which added an interesting focal point. The painting went well and I came away with a pretty complete piece. Some challenges were the wind so I had to improvise a weight for my portable easel. Also, the flies were ferociously biting me. Glad to have brought bug spray which is always in my travel bag. And finally, I am positive that the manure spreader which passed my position three times, intentionally spilled a bit on the curve on which I was painting. Really!

Anyway, here is the final product and a few preliminaries. It was painted on a toned canvas, 18 x 24, and took about two hours. Feedback is always appreciated.

Hay bales, one potential view

Final view chosen. Loved the overhanging tree, the shadows and the contrasts.

First laying in on toned canvas

Final painting with scene behind. About two hours.

Improvised weight to hold my portable easel in the breeze.

Car studio. Easier than packing everything and a lot roomier.

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Posted in art, oil painting, painting instruction, plein air, plein air painting

Tagged art, Birdseye, country living, hay bales, indiana, kit miracle, Mentor Road, oil painting, painting instruction, plein air

Using red gel to determine values in your paintings

Posted on May 18, 2015 | Comments Off

Sometimes using a piece of red gel (acetate)- as in lighting gel – will help you see the values of your subject and painting better. This seems to work best with landscapes as the red gel counteracts the greens, just leaving the values.

I’m not quite sure where I came across this idea but I always carry a piece of red gel with me. You can acquire leftover pieces from most theaters in your area, even some universities. They use the gels to color the lights for the stage. Or you can buy it new on Amazon.com or at a theatrical supply store. If you use a viewfinder, there is even a really neat gismo which you can buy at www.pictureperfectviewfinder.com which has the red gel built in, along with some value markers and different size openings for standard painting sizes. Try it. You’ll like it.

Piece of red gel, about 4 x 6

Folded over Picture Perfect View Finder showing the red gel and composition grids.

The Picture Perfect View Finder

Back side of the viewfinder

Landscape without the gel

Landscape with red gel showing values

Using the red gel to look at computer photo

A landscape painting with the red gel

A landscape final version showing the values in the photo on the computer

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Posted in oil painting, painting instruction, plein air, plein air painting

Tagged art, determine values, kit miracle, oil painting, painting instruction, plein air, red acetate, red gel

Plein air painting with acrylics

Posted on May 3, 2015 | Comments Off

First of all I will admit that I am not an expert in acrylic painting. Yes, I’ve painted watercolors for over 30 years and have tackled oil painting for about ten years. But I’m pretty new to acrylic painting.

I got into acrylics painting artwork last year when I had some commissions which needed to be completed quickly. Mainly I was looking for something durable but which dries more quickly than oils. And after my last foray at a multi-day plein air event last month where I seemed to get Titanium white all over everything, I thought acrylics might be a good idea to try.

I have a beautiful little pochade box which I purchased last year but have never used so this was to be my designated acrylic box. (For now.) I loaded it up yesterday morning and drove out to a place down the road that I’ve been eyeing for a future painting site. It was so peaceful and I arrived just before the sun arose. I will say that the hardest part was attaching the quick release to my tripod, but after several attempts, I finally got it. Not too thrilled as it wiggled a bit but otherwise it worked. Then I unfortunately sat on my only plastic water container and smashed it. Humph! Artist ingenuity jumped up and I cut the bottom off a bottle of water. Worked perfectly.

The next test was the new mini Stay Wet palette that I added too much water to the sponge. The paper palette wrinkled a bit but I could work with it. Lesson here: try new equipment at home before you hit the road.

Here’s a photo of the beautiful rolling fields that I was trying to capture. I find that I really only have two hours to make a go of a painting before I lose the light but this was enough.

And here’s a photo of the field painting at the time I packed up.

When I got back home, I wasn’t quite satisfied with the colors or composition of the painting so decided to work on it some more. You can see where I lowered the clouds to emphasize the dawn. Then I pushed back some hills and brought forth some of the sunny highlights. I’m not totally satisfied with the overall painting but I usually have to live with them for a while. It doesn’t seem to have the personality of the scene I was trying to capture but barring that, isn’t too bad. What do you think? Which one do you like best.

So, lessons learned from my first acrylic plein air painting adventure.

Test out new equipment first before you take it into the field.
Be adaptable.
Acrylics are nice in that they dry much quicker than oils but are more opaque than watercolors.
And….don’t sit on your water container!

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Posted in art, painting instruction, plein air, plein air painting

Tagged acrylic, art, kit miracle, painting, painting instruction, plein air

How to convey a feeling in painting

Posted on March 29, 2015 | 1 comment

Winter in Mentor, Final, 12 x 24, oil on Canvas, Kit Miracle

Artists usually have some reason that they paint a subject. This could be a desire to convey beauty, despair, record something historical, or whatever. In this painting, I wanted to convey the bone-chilling cold one early morning this month. Check out my step-by-step page.

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Posted in art, oil painting, painting instruction

Tagged art, contemporary impressionist, kit miracle, oil painting, painting instruction, winter

Finding time to paint

Posted on October 25, 2014 | 1 comment

A few weeks ago I was showing my studio to an elderly friend of mine who commented, “How do you find time to paint all these pictures?” Now this woman has been a professional artist all her life, including many years as a commercial artist so I was a bit puzzled by her remark. This reminded me of a situation a few weeks before then. I was at a picnic with a group of friends. They were sitting around talking about all their favorite shows, how they had downloaded several years worth of episodes. Interestingly enough, I hadn’t watched any of the shows. Ever. Not one episode.

So back to the question of how I produce so many paintings. I guess I just work at it. It’s all about priorities. I don’t have any more time than anyone else, probably less considering my day job as director of a multi-discipline arts center with some real crazy hours. But this is just what I do. It’s all about priorities. Yes, I watch the news and might get sucked into Jeopardy or Antiques Roadshow, but mostly if I’m not painting, I’m reading or working outside. I can usually squeeze in 15 or 20 hours per week which is the equivalent of a part-time job. Even if I get only one painting done a week, that is still 52 per year. Usually way more depending upon the size and complexity of the works. Not all paintings are the same quality and some are just sketches. A plein air painting may only take a couple of hours before the light changes. And I may work on it a bit more in the studio. Some are just studies. Some are more finished pieces.

So my usual reply to people who say they don’t have time to paint (or learn a musical instrument, read a novel, write a novel, etc.) is, “You can always make time for the things that are important to you.”

My question to you, is, “What are your priorities?” Make the time for you.

Path to the Beach, 24 x 30 oil on canvas, Kit Miracle

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Posted in oil painting

Tagged contemporary impressionist, kit miracle, nova scotia, oil painting, painting instruction

Ritter Creek, Painting A Complex Subject

Posted on July 17, 2014 | Comments Off

Ritter Creek, Final, 24 x 30, oil on canvas, Kit Miracle

Ritter Creek is just down the road from me. Like my last posting of French Lick Creek, this was also painted on a toned canvas. However, this was a very complex subject, lowland creek bottom with many trees. Check out my step-by-step demonstration for further information. Sometimes as the artist, you must take things out to make a better composition. Ritter Creek, Demonstration

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Posted in oil painting

Tagged contemporary impressionist, indiana, kit miracle, landscape, oil painting, painting instruction, toned canvas

Making friends with green

Posted on June 28, 2014 | Comments Off

French Lick Creek, final, oil on canvas, 24x30, Kit Miracle

French Lick Creek, final, oil on canvas, 24×30, Kit Miracle

Green is one of the most difficult colors for most artists to handle. However, if you’re going to paint landscapes, you’d better make friends with green. I think the biggest mistake inexperienced artists make is not really looking at the color. Green comes in many varieties – yellowish, orangey, silver, blue, purple. Even just looking closely and slightly emphasizing what you see will help you immensely. To learn more about the painting above and to see a demo, check out the page French Lick Creek, making friends with green, demonstration.

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Posted in art, oil painting, painting instruction, plein air, plein air painting

Tagged art, French Lick, green, kit miracle, oil painting, painting instruction, plein air, toned canvas

Simplify your backgrounds

Posted on June 25, 2014 | 2 comments

Often, when we venture into the great outdoors to paint, we are assaulted with visual overload. There’s just too much out there! I find that a good way to approach the problem of too much is to simplify my backgrounds. In this recent plein air painting of June lilies, I could have added a lot of trees and stuff in the background but decided to emphasize the flowers instead. I chose to do this by painting the background with a muted variety of purples and blues. As you can see, this really makes the flowers pop. By the way, the orange day lilies grow wild in great masses along the country roads this time of year.